An Itch You Can't Scratch
by buecha
Summary: Jack has an itch. Is it too deep for her or even Riddick to heal? This happens after Pitch Black.
1. The Itch

The pain doesn't hurt anymore. Not since I've taken the pills. At first it was nothing to think about at first. It was a headache once in awhile, but nothing else. The headaches stopped, but now there's this pain in my arms. Under the skin, in the bone. An itch you can't scratch. My scratches are starting to heal around my wrists. Now that the pills have numbed the pain I can sleep again.

No pain. No feeling. No idea what's happening to me. Riddick knows. He has to. He hasn't said anything, but he's seen my scratches. It was in the bathroom. I practically lived there before the pills. I would spend hours in there at a time. I tried everything to stop the pain, the itching. Cold baths, hot baths, lotions, oatmeal, scratching, which did nothing more than leave permanent scars from scratching so deep. I would even stare into the mirror, into my eyes as if I could find the reason for this curse.

Riddick would knock a few times and ask if I needed a laxative or someone to chew my food for me. This was his way of letting me know that he was there for me if I wanted to confront him about it. Before then he had walked in without knocking and seen me wrapping my wrist with bandages to cover the scratches. He didn't say anything. He just grabbed his goggles off the sink and left the room. He knows that I would tell him if something was seriously wrong.

It wasn't bad all the time. During the day it was barely unnoticeable. It was the nights that killed me. It wasn't like I could see a doctor about it. For seven years we've been keeping low, out of sight, invisible. As far as everyone knows we all died on the planet. The first settlement we arrived to we snagged a better ship. Imam decided to stay and managed to get us food and water as a parting gift. Since then we've been skipping on planets like skipping pebbles on water. I've learned to bargain and hussle like anyone else who lives on a ship with no permanent address.

About a week ago I told Riddick about the pain. I realized there wasn't a point to hiding it anymore. I wasn't going to go away. He gave me the pills. He said that he was given some similar ones when he got the shine job. Like he would have taken them anyway. I wish I could take the pain like he can, but I can't. The pills numb the pain. I know it's still there. There's a tingle in both my arms that's still there, but no pain.

I told Riddick this and he would just say, "Don't worry, kid. If it doesn't go away you'll get used to it and it won't bother you anymore."

This must be Riddick's philosophy to life.


	2. The Wait

_**Thanks for the reviews. It looks like you guys like this story. It's my first so that's a good thing. I've always loved reading them so I guess it was my time to write on. Sorry for taking longer to update. I had to do some thinking on what to do for the next chapters. Let me know what you think.**_

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Am I getting used to the pain? Not exactly, the pills don't seem to be working anymore. What the hell is wrong with me? When Riddick takes a break from the controls I'll see what I can find about this what…virus, disease, allergy? I should have found a cure back on TriLuna, our last stop. There had to be some Doc there to help me. Legal or not, at this point I really don't care.

Riddick has an important payoff to keep us out of the heat for a while with this next stop. Lately he's been doing backup checks on the computer systems and inventorying our food and equipment supplies trying to keep him busy. He's eager to get this job done. I just stay out of the way.

I have ways of keeping myself occupied. To keep my mind off of the itching and Riddick's nervousness for the new shipment I have my routine workout. It involves pushups with a metal bench across my back, for added weight. Another is doing leg lifts while balancing a 10 lb. Jug of water with my bare feet. It's important to keep in shape with the many days spent on the ship and I've had to learn to be resourceful in any environment.

At this moment I lay on my stomach on my very thin and hard mattress that's seen it's better days to be called a bed. I'm staring at a glass of water on the other side of the room. Maybe if I stare at it long enough it will move. Maybe I have some power to make it float. Ok, now I even realize this is ridiculous. Then I hear a knock at my door. I'm saved from insanity for the moment anyway.

"We're getting ready to port," Riddick says through the door, "Lock up and get out here,"

"Eye, eye captain," I say while bolting the bench back to the floor.

I down the glass of water and place the jug of water in the closet. On my way out of the room I grab my oversized gray sweatshirt to pull over by black strap tank to cover my arms and mid-drift to my pull string canvas pants. My bare feet walk quickly to the co-pilot seat making a slapping noise against the metal floor. You would think they'd make heated floors for these things.

I sit in the seat and strap in. Riddick turns and looks down at my bare feet. His goggles are on and all he does it tilt and eyebrow. I shrug and give him a soft smile.

"Just a quick pickup, right?"

He doesn't answer right off, as he seems to concentrate on landing. When we do he unbuckles and stands.

"No need for you to unbuckle. This will be quick."

With that he leaves and I stay put eager to be back in space. I can't believe that that's what I want, but I've become so used to it that it seems familiar and safe to me.

Now's my chance to do the research. I unstrap and sit in the pilot seat and type away on the internal data mainframe. I type in the search block ITCHING: BURNING: SKIN: BONE. Something should show up with those keywords. It takes a few minutes get results, but a long list shows up on the screen and a quickly scroll down before going back to the top to look at the number one match. Am I reading this right? This can't be what I have. I click on the icon to get more information. What shows up makes me want to gag.

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_**Sorry for the cliffhanger. I always hated people doing it to me, but I need to do some research for the next chapter. I hope it like it so far. Update should be soon.**_


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